Poland arrests Chinese businessman suspected of spying

Poland said Friday it had arrested a Chinese businessman suspected of spying for China, with local media identifying him as a Huawei director.

The announcement comes weeks after Canada arrested Huawei vice president Meng Wanzhou, who is accused of violating Iran sanctions.

The Chinese telecommunications giant is also facing increased scrutiny over its alleged links to Chinese intelligence services.

Countries like the United States, Australia and Japan have blocked Huawei from building their next-generation, super-fast 5G internet networks.

A Polish man was also arrested for alleged espionage along with the Chinese citizen "who is a businessman working for an important telecommunications firm," said Maciej Wasik, deputy head of Poland's special services, quoted by the PAP news agency.

The two men were arrested on Tuesday and are suspected of having "worked for Chinese services and to the detriment of Poland," said Polish special services spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn.

According to local media, the Chinese businessman is believed to be one of the directors of the Polish branch of Huawei.

The media outlets add that the Polish suspect is thought to be a former agent for Poland's ABW counter-intelligence service who is now working as a cyber-security consultant for the Polish branch of French mobile phone provider Orange.